


The Crossroads of Destiny

by theywearpink



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:08:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24491794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theywearpink/pseuds/theywearpink
Summary: Zuko usually loved the afternoons they spent together in this secluded spot in the palace grounds. Today, though, he couldn't block out the thoughts swirling around and around in his head like water circling a drain. The what-ifs and the might-have-beens.
Relationships: Aang/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 188





	The Crossroads of Destiny

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first Zukaang fic!  
> I love these two a lot and just had to write some post-war romance feat. Zuko being angsty (and anxious) as always.  
> Set in an AU where everything is the same except Aang is sixteen and Zuko is twenty at the end of the war, lol.

“Do you ever think about how differently things could have turned out?”

He and Aang were lying side by side in the grass, their hands laced together in the space between them. Zuko closed his eyes and tried to focus on the warm breeze whispering across his skin and the golden sunlight enveloping him in its embrace. He usually loved the afternoons they spent together in this secluded spot in the palace grounds. Lately, it had felt like this was the only place where they could be themselves. They didn’t have to play at being men, discussing political relations and peace treaties as if they had any expertise on the matter. Here they could just be boys.

Today, though, he couldn’t block out the thoughts swirling around and around in his head like water circling a drain. The what-ifs and the might-have-beens.

The grass rustled as Aang turned his head to look at Zuko. “What things?”

Zuko couldn’t meet his gaze. “Just…everything. You being my friend. Me teaching you firebending. All of us working together to end the war.” He swallowed. “If I’d made a few decisions differently, none of that would have happened.”

Aang was quiet for a moment as he contemplated this. His thumb moved across Zuko’s hand, absently tracing circles into his palm, and Zuko’s heart thrilled at the touch. It had been six months since the end of the war, and three months since he and Aang had fallen together in this way. It had happened slowly, subtly; there hadn’t been any grand gestures or drawn-out confessions, just an unspoken shift in their relationship. He was still in quiet disbelief that this was what Aang wanted, _he_ was what Aang wanted. He didn’t know if he would ever feel worthy of it.

“No,” Aang said chirpily, “I don’t ever think about that.”

He was so steadfast and certain in his answer that Zuko almost laughed. Almost.

“Well, why not?” he asked.

“Because,” was all Aang said.

“Because _what_?”

Aang squeezed his hand, and Zuko finally turned to face him. “Because,” his voice was even, his gaze never leaving Zuko’s face, “it’s our destiny. You and I were fated to meet. Just like I was meant to know Katara, and Sokka, and Toph, I was meant to know you. And you were meant to help me…to help us.” He said it casually, but the intimacy of the words sent skitters down Zuko’s spine.

“How can you be so sure?”

The corners of Aang’s mouth curled upwards. “I just am.”

His eyes were grey like the sky before a light rain, calm and cool, and Zuko let them roll over him. Both he and Aang were prone to rumination, but he sensed that Aang’s mind knew a peace that his own never had. Aang’s thoughts were a flowing stream rather than a raging current; made up of the same water and sediment, but entirely different in their movement. 

“Okay, but suppose…” Zuko started.

Aang let out a small huff but indulged him anyway. “Yes?"

Zuko sat up, and Aang did the same.

“Suppose none of that stuff exists. That there’s no destiny, no fate, no nothing.”

“There is,” Aang countered.

“Suppose there isn’t.”

This suddenly felt important somehow. Aang and the others may have forgiven him for his past, but part of Zuko still hadn’t. He sometimes woke from fitful dreams in which he betrayed them all…He delivered Aang to the Fire Nation. He kneeled in front of the throne, head bowed, as the Fire Lord spoke callously of honour and glory. Azula kneeled beside him. And the flames surged and engulfed them. And they watched as the rest of the world burned to ash.

There was something delicate and careful about the way Aang was looking at him now. For someone who was constantly talking, Aang had an uncanny knack of knowing exactly when to speak and when to listen.

“If luck and chance are all we have, then it could have gone a hundred ways. I could have sided with my father and fought for the Fire Nation. You could have lost the war. Or you could have ended it, but with me as your enemy. I might have hurt you. I might have killed you.” Zuko’s chest constricted. He clenched his palms into fists. “And I might have been happy about it.”

He blinked as Aang’s hands settled on his shoulders.

“None of that would have happened. I know it.”

“How–”

“Because I know you,” Aang said. “You let me escape in the woods after you saved me from Zhao. You fought Azula with us when she tracked me to that abandoned town. And you were the one who freed Appa at Lake Laogai. You helped me so many times, even when I thought you weren’t on my side.”

Aang trailed a hand along Zuko’s cheek and down to his jaw. He cupped his chin and tilted his face gently upwards so that their eyes met.

“Because you’re _good_ , Zuko. It might have taken you a long time to realise it, and even longer to accept it, but you always have been. We can all see it. And you should, too.” Aang leaned forward and pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek. The tension left Zuko’s body all at once, and he slumped forward to rest his forehead against Aang’s. The lump in his throat tightened. “So no matter how things went, we always would have ended up here. You wouldn’t have let it happen any other way.”

Zuko took a ragged breath in, and held it, before letting it out. He nodded slowly. “Okay,” he said.

“Okay,” Aang echoed.

Zuko drew back, but only to slide a hand behind Aang’s neck before closing the distance between them again. Aang’s breath caught, and his eyelids fluttered shut, and their lips met. He smiled against Zuko’s mouth before leaning into him and pulling him closer.

And for once, the waves crashing against the rocky shores of Zuko’s mind grew serene and still.


End file.
